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The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



June 25, 1908. 



Traendly ridicules the whole matter and 

 casts the old-time slur on Philadelphia's 

 slowness for introducing the subject at 

 all. I think every New Yorker who visited 

 Philadelphia last August will disagree 

 with Mr. Traendly 's assertion about the 

 slowness of our city, and many of them 

 will agree with me when X say that Mr. 

 Traendly 's failure to recognize the im- 

 portance of this question is not a sign of 

 superiority. J. W. Young. 



[Mr. Traendly did not fail to recog- 



nize the importance of the subject; rather 

 he recognized it as so big a problem as 

 to be beyond solution except through the 

 gradual changes which are every year ap- 

 parent in the trade, for he said: "It is 

 a condition that we all have to buck 

 against and do the best we can." As 

 for Philadelphia's slowness, Mr. Traend- 

 ly is one of those who lightens life's 

 labors by enjoying his little joke at each 

 step on the journey. Don't take him too 

 literally.— Ed.] >, i' :./ ' 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Poinsettias. 



While it is still somewhat early to 

 propagate poinsettias for pan culture, 

 it is well to continue to put in cuttings 

 to produce plants for planting in benches 

 or growing singly in pots to produce 

 large sized bracts for Christmas trade. 

 A greenhouse is not needed for the stock 

 plants now. They will make better cut- 

 tings if kept outdoors and will root 

 freely in a coldframe, in which the lit- 

 tle plants should be placed when first 

 potted. If you have any old stock still 

 in a dormant state, instead of potting 

 the same plant it outdoors, where it 

 can receive some water and will speedily 

 give you a crop of nice cuttings. Be 

 sure to pot off your cuttings as soon 

 as rooted, as they soon become hard in 

 the propagating bench and if the roots 

 are long they will break badly when re- 

 moved. 



Gardenias. 



During July is a good time to plant 

 out a bench of gardenias. If cuttings 

 were put in a month ago, they should 

 now be rooted and potted off. Keep 

 these in a warm, moist house, where they 

 can have frequent sprayings overhead, 

 and they will grow surprisingly fast and 

 be fit to plant out within three or four 

 weeks. 



Gardenias do not want a large body 

 of soil to grow in. We prefer four to 

 six inches and the compost should be of 

 a porous nature. If water, after being 

 applied to the bench, will stand on the 

 surface, you must expect yellowing of 

 the foliage. To have ideal soil condi- 

 tions it should pass away as if poured 

 into a screen. Good drainage is essen- 

 tial. Over this place a layer of fibrous 

 sod, with the grassy side downwards. 

 Sod of a fibrous nature is to be pre- 

 ferred, and use as little of the finer 

 particles as possible. Some old, well 

 dried cow manure, sharp sand and broken 

 charcoal should be added to the loam, 

 but it is better not to use bone or other 

 chemical fertilizers. Make the compost 

 firm and leave a little ring around each 

 plant, in which to apply water for a 

 few weeks. This is preferable to soak- 

 ing the whole bench. 



Use the spray nozzle on the hose to 

 keep down insect pests, particularly 

 mealy bug. A fine damping overhead 

 twice a day in hot weather will prove 

 helpful. Pinch out the tops of the 

 shoots to keep the plants bushy. 



-^ Show Pela/c:onium8. 



As the flowerhig^season for show pel- 

 argoniums ends, stand the plants out- 

 doors in full sunshine. Do not immedi- 

 ately withhold water, as is too often 

 done, but give them a liberal supply for 

 the next three or four weeks, after which 

 time gradually reduce it and lay the 

 plants on their sides. Be sure that the 

 plants are correctly labeled while any 

 flowers remain, and if you are anxious 

 to increase your stock of any varieties, 

 you can get plenty of cuttings now, but, 

 as a rule, we find it suflSciently early 

 to propagate when pruning back the old 

 plants. 



Peonies. 



The flowering season for peonies, owing 

 to warm, dry weather, was less extend- 

 ed than usual this year. We hope you 

 marked the good and undesirable sorts. 

 Get rid of the latter and try to increase 

 your stock of the former, August and 

 September being suitable months for di- 

 viding the plants. Remove all seeds from 

 the plants and keep them well cultivated. 

 Some pessimists are opining that peonies 

 are being overdone. There have been too 

 many flowers on the market, but not of 

 the better varieties. Growers who heve 

 bad good white and soft pink shades 

 have found a ready sale for them. The 

 old varieties, which are still most in 

 evidence, are hard to dispose of. You 

 cannot afford to grow these poor kinds. 

 Get some of the more up-to-date ones 

 and remember that peonies are iron- 

 clad plants, that they increase in value 

 each year and, even if you do not sell a 

 flower, the plants themselves will give 

 you good returns on any outlay you may 

 have made on them. 



Onddium Varicosum Rosenii. 



Oncidium varicosum Bogersii is a 

 popular yellow fall and winter bloom- 

 ing orchid that is grown to some ex- 

 tent by quite a number of florists. To 

 any wishing to try a few plants, the 

 present is a good time to procure a few 

 newly imported ones, which are now 

 being offered by several dealers. Care- 

 fully sponge over the new plants; cut 

 away any dead bulbs or roots. Lay on 

 a bare piece of bench for a few days, 

 giving them occasional gentle sprayings. 

 When root and growth action starts, place 

 them in pans, pots or baskets, using 

 these of as small size as you can con- 

 veniently get the plants in. A compost 



of fern fiber, to which a little live sphag- 

 num moss has been added, is suitable. 

 Grow in an airy house where they have 

 good light, but no direct sunshine. 

 Water sparingly until root action is be- 

 coming vigorous. Then apply it more 

 freely. 



These newly imported plants should 

 all flower next fall or early winter and 

 the following season will produce fine 

 spikes. As their cost is comparatively 

 low and they are splendid for decorative 

 effects, coming in season for the fall 

 shows, it is no wonder that the demand 

 for them constantly increases. 



Tuberous Begonias. 



Late started tubers, recently potted 

 off, come in useful during August and 

 September, when flowering plants are 

 none too plentiful. It is true that the 

 demand for such plants with some grow- 

 ers is practically nil, but there are a 

 number of others who do a considerable 

 trade at this season, particularly if t"hey 

 are located near shore, mountain or 

 other resorts. 



These begonias like some shade, but it 

 should never be heavy. They must have 

 a light bench to do them justice and the 

 shoots, being breakable, should be sup- 

 ported with short stakes. Do not crowd 

 them nor syringe them overhead. For 

 compost they prefer a light but rich mix- 

 ture of well rotted manure, loam and a 

 good addition of sand. If your loam ia 

 heavy, also add some leaf -mold. Six-inch 

 pots will grow fine begonias, but if you 

 prefer larger sized ones, use 7-inch and 

 8-inch. Splendid specimens can be grown 

 in these two latter sizes. 



CREOSOTE IN GREENHOUSES. 



With reference to the use of creosote 

 in greenhouse construction, as discussed 

 in the Review, we can say but little 

 from our own experience, and we have 

 not been able to find any one who can 

 speak from experience. We do not think, 

 however, that it would be safe to use 

 creosote in any manner, as this is a dis- 

 tillation of wood tar or coal tar. 



Some years ago a house which was 

 built for Robert Hoe was found to be 

 very unsatisfactory. The plants fre- 

 quently lost their leaves and the gardener 

 laid the trouble to several things, among 

 them that there was a gas generated in- 

 side the heating pipes. He had an open 

 tank which was then used closed up and 

 the pipe led outdoors, so there might not 

 be any connection between the heating 

 pipes and the indoor air. This did not 

 help the difficulty in any way, as the 

 plants still dropped their leaves. It was 

 at last found that when the sills were 

 laid on the walls some coal tar paper had 

 been used. This paper was laid on top 

 of the 8-inch brick wall and the sills 

 were bedded down close on top of it. 

 The odor of gas could easily be detected 

 at certain times in the greenhouse. So 

 they had the sills taken up and all the 

 tar paper taken out and the sills re- 

 bedded in cement. After that was done, 

 we believe there was no further trouble. 



We think it would be very dangerous 

 to plant life to use creosote in any man- 

 ner. It would be more dangerous at the 

 time of the year when the house was 

 closed, or in extremely cold weather, 

 when the fire would be pushed to carry 

 the desired temperature. 



Andrew Elder. 



Superintendent of Erection, Lord & 

 Burnham Co. 



